New short and general synthesis of three key Maillard flavour compounds: 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline, 6-acetyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine and 5-acetyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-1,4-thiazine.

A new general synthetic route towards three key Maillard flavour compounds, namely 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, 6-acetyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine and 5-acetyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-1,4-thiazine, was developed. The key step in the process is the methylenation reaction of azaheterocyclic carboxylic esters by means of dimethyltitanocene, giving rise to intermediate vinyl ethers which can be considered as excellent and stable precursors for the title compounds, as a simple acidic treatment of these precursors suffices to release the characteristic Maillard flavours.

Synthesis of 1-substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenz[g]isoquinoline-5,10-diones.

1,2-Disubstituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenz[g]isoquinoline-5,10-diones are prepared for the first time through an activated Pictet-Spengler reaction of the corresponding imines of 2-(1,4-dimethoxynaphth-2-yl)ethylamine in the presence of an acyl chloride and AlCl(3) followed by an oxidation with silver(II) oxide in nitric acid. Depending on the reaction conditions the N-trichloroacetyl protecting group could be cleaved off, converted to an N-methoxycarbonyl group or transformed to an N-(2-oxoacetamide) moiety. The synthesized 1,2-disubstituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenz[g]isoquinoline-5,10-diones constitute a new class of quinones, which has not been reported yet.